Flotation oil



Patented July 24, 1928.

' UNITED STATES 1,678,312 PATENT OFFICE.

GALE L. ADAMS, OF HUNTINGTON PARK, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 STANDARD OILDEVELOPMENT COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

No Drawing. Original applicatioil filed January 30, 1924, Serial No.689,584. 'Divided and this application filed July 28, 1927.

The present invention relates to flotation oils such as are used inconcentrating ores and is a division of my previous application, $erialNo. 689,584 filed January 30, 1924. My invention will be fullyunderstood from the following description.

. In flotation processes for concentrating ores, oily materials areagitated with water and ground ore to form a froth or foam whichis thenseparated from the aqueous suspension of gangue. have been usedextensively for this purpose, but it is desirable to obtain cheapersubstances. '4 i I have found that the residuum from cracking mineraloils, particularly residues from cracking petroleums' under pressure,furnishes very desirable flotation material. It is preferable tocompound this residuum with other reinforcing materials as, for example,a minor proportion of pine oil, say 15%, but I find that a reinforcingmaterial which is superior to pine oil is had in the residuum from thehydrolysis of sulphated olefin-s. Thislatter product'is obtained as aby-prodnot in the manufacture of alcohols from olefins where the olefinis absorbed in sulphuric acid under sulphat-ing conditions, as describedin U. S. Patents Nos. 1,486,646

, granted March 11, 1924, and 1,486,647 grant-.

ed March 11, 1924. The sulphated olefins are hydrolyzed to form alcohol,dilute sulphuric acid and an oily layer which contains polymerizedhydrocarbons and a high percentage of combined sulphur. The chemicalnature of this product is not well understood. t

In compounding my flotation oil, I prefer to use from 5 to 30% of thepolymerized hydrocarbon product, above identified, the balance up to100% being made 'up of the residuum from cracking hydrocarbon oils,especially pressure still tars. In some instances .a small quantity ofan additional frothing agent may be used and I prefer to use asulphonate derived from the treatment of hydrocarbon oil withconcentrated or fuming sulphuric acid, and preparing a sodium oralkaline salt of the sulphuric acid, as will be well understood. Thesodium sul-. phonate may contain about 40% moisture and I ordinarilyprefer to employ from .10% to 5% of such sulphonate.

Creosote or pine oil Serial No. 209,189. 1

0 The quantity of flotation oil varies conslderably with the characterof the ore to be concentrated, but it is the limits of .05 and 1.0%.

As an illustration of the use of my oil, an

ore containing 1.9% copper, such as chalcocite and chalcopyrlte, isground and agitated with water in a frothing machine, using 1.4

lbs. of flotation oil per ton of ore. The oilgenerally between attachedclaims, in which I wish to claim 7 all novelty inherent in my invention.

I claim:

1. A flotation oil which comprises 80% of pressure still tar, slightlyover 19% of residuum from hydrolysis of sulfated olefins, and slightlyless than 1% of water-soluble iodium sulfonate ,of petroleumhydrocarons.

2. A flotation oil which comprises a hydrocarbon residuum from thecracking of petroleum hydrocarbons, a residuum from hydrolysis ofsulfated olefins substantially free from sulfonic compounds, and awatersoluble sodium sulfonate of petroleum hydrocarbons.

3. A flotation oil which comprises a by I drocarbon residuum from thecracking of petroleum hydrocarbons, a residuum from hydrolysis ofsulfated olefins, and an agent to improve the frothing qualities.

4. A flotation oil which comprises a hydrocarbon residuum from thecracking of mineral oil hydrocarbons, and a residuum from hydrolysis ofsulfated olefins.

5. A flotation oil'which comprises a hydrocarbon residuum from acracking of mineral hydrocarbons. and a reinforcing agent. "6. Aflotation oil which contains 80% or less of a hydrocarbon residuum fromthe cracking of mineral hydrocarbons.

GALE 'L. ADAMS.

